


Send me a Peach from Old Georgia

by Nerdqueen22



Category: The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bisexual Clementine (Walking Dead), Clem's perspective eventually, Clementine Has PTSD (Walking Dead), Clementine Needs a Hug (Walking Dead), Eventual Romance, F/F, F/M, M/M, Not Beta Read, One-Legged Clementine (Walking Dead), POV Violet (Walking Dead: Done Running), Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-31
Updated: 2020-11-19
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:20:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25081510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nerdqueen22/pseuds/Nerdqueen22
Summary: Violet's life is thrown a wild card when a ball-capped teen and her adopted kid are dropped into her life. But when they're suddenly torn apart by circumstances- how does Violet cope knowing the two may be gone for good? And why does it keep falling onto her to pick up the pieces?
Relationships: Aasim/Ruby (Walking Dead: Done Running), Clementine/Violet (Walking Dead: Done Running)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 25





	1. When did it all go wrong?

**Author's Note:**

> This is a long haul of a piece so be ready folks! I tried to be as conservative as possible in my tagging- but lets just say this is my version of how the canon story could have twisted from Violet's perspective. 
> 
> I had a lot of fun with this (basically dragged myself out of writer's block with this story) so I hope you enjoy! Be prepared for many more chapters soon, as I already have most of this planned out following this chapter. Plus I'm locked up in Quarantine and school is probably gonna be online this semester so...

_Where are you from again?_

_Georgia._

_Where’s that?_

_It’s south east of here. Like really, really, south east. It’s the furthest south east you can go before hitting the ocean._

_Woah. That is south east._

_Yeah, it is. But it doesn’t matter. Georgia isn’t my home AJ. It’ll never be my home._

* * *

  
Violet and Louis’ footsteps were heavy and uneven. The two walked in practical silence. It had to be the longest stretch that Louis had ever gone without being obnoxious. And it wasn’t even for Violet’s sake.

_He was acting like a jackass._

At least that was what Violet thought. This whole fucking vote just seemed pointless. _Hadn’t they been through enough bullshit already?_ Yet as soon as Mitch and Louis agreed that Clementine and AJ were better off gone; the others pretty much fell in line. It was a losing battle the moment Mitch even suggested they take a vote.

The two of them approached the door frame to Minnie and Sophie’s old room. Louis untucked one of his fists from his burlap trench coat to hover silently over the door handle. Almost like that was the limit of his pleasantries. He didn’t even give them the common decency of a knock. He just barged in without a single glance back at Violet. Clementine and AJ were caught with their pants down in a way- perched at the edge of Clementine’s bed. It must have been a serious discussion, for the creases of Clementine’s forehead had cinched into a fine line above her thick brown brows. Her kid was no better, as he had a habit of emulating her expressions almost to the letter. Even his darkened gaze matched hers in intensity. From the way that he frowned- to the small scrunch of his nose when he was shocked. AJ hadn’t lived nearly as long as Clementine. But he sure could pretend like he had. 

Clementine gestured to AJ and the two came crashing down to their feet. Louis was quiet in his brooding and he didn’t say a word once Violet sent him an accusatory stare. He just stood by the door frame and kept his eyes firmly planted to the ground. _Fucking coward_. 

“We took the vote,” Violet managed, once she concluded Louis wasn’t going to say it himself. “You need to leave.” 

It was hard for Violet to meet the two kids' eyes. After all, it wasn’t her fault that the two had to leave.

_It wasn’t their fault either! How could the others insist on losing more people after everything that had happened?_

AJ began to fiddle with his hands as his feet lurched forwards. Kind of like Tenn in that regard. It was probably the only mannerism the two boys shared. “Don’t we get to vote,” AJ damn near whispered. “I vote that we stay.” 

“That’s not how it works!”

_Lou’s an absolute dick._

“Maybe it should be,” Violet rebuked just to spite him, before the taller teen firmly placed his glare on her. 

“You don’t have to like it!”

“Good cause I don’t,” She snapped viciously.  
  


Clementine’s voice was the only thing that broke the two apart before their stand-off escalated. 

“Fine. I get it. We’ll learn to live with your decision,” She interrupted, and she turned her eyes down to her clenched fists. “ _Somehow_.” She spat out that final word like she could actually taste it on her lips. And according to the look on her face, it was clear that the word was coated in something nasty. “Seriously? That’s it?” Violet questioned, before she narrowed her eyes on the younger brunette. “You know this is fucking wrong and you’re not gonna fight it at all?”

Violet had watched this girl a lot since she came crashing onto their doorstep. One thing was clear about Clementine. She wasn’t the type of person to just give away what she was really feeling. From Marlon’s stupid rules about his safe zone to Lou’s poor excuse for flirting. She just took everything in a methodic stride.

And when Louis insisted on playing a game of war to learn more about Clementine-- she was characteristically evasive.

* * *

_You can’t have been alone this entire time. Who used to take care of you?_

Marlon shrugged his shoulders as if the question was something so casual. As if everyone just brought up their trauma at the dinner table. Violet wanted to glare at the older boy for prying. Clementine was clearly uncomfortable with them asking these sorts of questions. She learned that lesson well, when she innocently asked where AJ’s parents were.

_They’re dead. They were good people… for the most part._

Yet she was genuinely curious why this teen- a younger teen then most of the people in the school at that- was all by herself with a child. There must be some reason why these two kids with no apparent relationship were otherwise tied at the hip.

_Family? Anyone?_

Marlon pushed further once the silence filled the table. Clementine’s face knotted into a far away stare not meant for any of the teens in front of her. Almost like she was suddenly being rushed away into a different dimension. But she was back in reality just a moment later. Her brows furrowed, before the spite left her thinly drawn lips. 

_I had people_.

Louis and Violet shared a look of concern. Marlon was never one to beat around the bush. Clem wasn’t going to get off that easily. 

_Everyone had people at some point. We had adults here, and now we don’t._

The younger girl centered her glare on the splinters at her side of the table. Why couldn’t they just ask her something stupid? Like her favorite color? Or what was up with her hat? The tension was thicker than oil, for Christ’s Sake. 

_Well I had people, and now I don’t_.

It was just like Clementine to end a conversation before it could even begin. She was the person who gladly offered her shoulder to those in need. But the moment the exchange turned on herself; she was quick to get defensive. Hell, they barely got anything out of her before Louis had to ruin any progress they may have thought they made.

_Ever had to kill someone you love?_

_Who the fuck asks people shit like that?_ Was Louis single-handedly the world’s biggest dumbass? 

It wasn’t even a question at this point. 

_Hey, she wanted me to ask!_

Violet never stopped watching Clementine’s face. The clear shock in her features was suddenly overwhelmed with dread. Her eyelids were parted only slightly, and she seemed to be lost yet again in the chasm that she called a baseball cap. It was heartbreaking, in a way, to watch. The girl responded with a simple, agonized word. 

_Yes_.

If there was a way for the Ericsson kids to lean closer than before, then they did just that. 

_Go on_.

Clementine’s eyes were empty. Literally. Louis could hold her upside down and not a single marble would drop to the ground. 

_It was a yes or no question_. 

She spoke this time with more anger instead of anguish.

_I answered it._

* * *

“What’s the point? You’ve already made your decision.”

Clementine answered Violet’s question the same way she answered Lou’s question just days ago. With simplicity, and a complete and utter lack of soul. Clem couldn’t be more detached from her normal self if she tried. And that was saying something, considering Violet didn't know what "normal" looked like for Clementine. She didn't know anything about Clementine at all and that just pissed her off even more.

“We have” Louis resounded as his arms crossed over his chest.

Violet huffed at the finality in his tone. “This is so fucking stupid.”

“You said you’d go along with it,” Louis said, “If we voted fairly.”

He raised an accusatory finger at her then, and she couldn’t help but scoff at his attempt to be firm. “It’s bullshit, and you’d know it if you weren’t so used to burying your head in the sand.” That did it. Louis gaped at her words before rushing to his own defense. “Oh I’m burying my head in the sand? Hate Marlon all you want, but you can’t tell me AJ isn’t dangerous, too.”

 _Louis is officially an even bigger dumbass today_ _than he ever has been._ There. It’s been said. God could call down the storm of locusts or the plague of rats. The world is _officially_ over.

_Louis has hit peak dumbassery._

The little boy gasped at those damning words but was saved from reacting any worse once Clem’s hand clasped down onto his shoulder. Louis’ own face fell once he saw the absolutely crushed look in AJ’s eyes. _The dumbass probably didn’t realize how reckless he’d been the past few hours._ Everything out of his mouth seemed adamant in blaming the poor kid for everything.

“We’ll wait for you to pack up, then Louis and I will escort you out past the safe zone. We’ll make sure you get to the road safely.”

Violet hated how her voice sounded. It was too much like Marlon when he was trying to play “leader.” _Look how much good playing the leader got him?_

“It’s not a lot, but at least you won’t die on the way.”

Yeah- that was something she’d have to work on. Trying to be sincere and angry at the same time was resoundingly difficult.

“We could’ve happily dumped you outside the gates.”

_That’s it. Louis is two seconds away from receiving a boot up his…_

Clementine’s expression hardened. She looked like she was contemplating saying something. _Anything_. But she merely sighed and took the little hand of the boy next to her. Her eyes turned down to AJ besides her, and she offered him a knowing frown. The little boy nodded right back like he had read the unspoken words right off her brain. _Lucky kid_.

“Where’s Tenn?” the boy swallowed thickly, before turning his desperate eyes to her sympathetic ones. “I gotta say goodbye?”

_Tenn. God really fucking hated him, didn't he?_

"He was really upset about the vote, and he’s not talking to anybody. It’s best to leave him alone when he’s like this, but….” and even as she said it, she knew it was a weak response to such a vulnerable question. Violet fiddled with the seam of her coat as she cleared her throat to try again.

“For the record,” Violet’s voice wavered, “he wanted you to stay.”

A weak smile overwhelmed AJ’s face and Violet had to stop herself from frowning. AJ and Tenn really seemed to have connected, despite their obvious differences. _This is gonna break the kid’s heart._ Tenn was the first kid he’d been around... well, ever, if Clementine’s word was to be trusted. Sure- Tenn was losing a friend, but who hadn’t nowadays? For AJ- this must be like losing a piece of your childhood you never knew you had. _Damn the other kids for doing this to them. Damn everyone who thought this was fair._

“Wait. Does AJ still have that gun?”

It hadn’t even occurred to her that AJ would still have his gun. But knowing what she did know about Clementine, it made perfect sense. Before Violet could interject; the boy sauntered over to their bag and rifled the revolver out from the widest pocket and into his hands precariously. Like it was somehow heavier than all the times he’d held it before.

“Hand it over,” Louis sobered, and he placed his open palm out in front of AJ expectantly.

Violet’s frown sunk into her carved cheekbones. “Is this necessary?”

“Hell yes it’s necessary. I’m not walking out into the woods with him holding that thing,” Louis hissed and he pushed his fingers through the roots of his dreads anxiously.  
“We already know he knows how to use it.”

Clementine visibly shifted her arms at his remark. She didn’t seem entirely thrilled at being lectured by Louis on this. Not when she was slowly receding back into the shell that they had found her in. The girl constantly on edge, ready to blow someone’s brains out if necessary. Violet knew Clementine had to be mentally preparing herself for a struggle worse than this once they stepped foot outside the walls. 

“It’s yours AJ, you should keep it.” She spoke with a firmness neither Louis nor Violet could match. She was firmer than Louis could ever imagine being. _And damn was it effective_. Even AJ was hesitant to push any further. “But I murdered Marlon with it,” the boy whispered.

Clementine furrowed her brows further with the disapproving look she responded with. _Shit. This is like watching someone get chewed out by their mom. But scarier. Like your mom may actually kill you for talking back._

“Yeah,” and Clementine’s stare turned to Louis as she continued, “But you’ll need protection outside.” The eldest teen visibly gulped, clearly thrown off by her tone of voice. He pushed his hands back into his pockets before quickly escaping towards the hall. “Fine. Let the kid keep the murder weapon.”

 _Clem should use that more often._ It was definitely an effective countermeasure to Lou's bullshit.

* * *

The woods were ominously noisy the afternoon they stepped into it's limits. It seemed like even nature knew what shit hand the kids at Ericsson were dealing to Clementine and her kid, and it in turn it was in a desperate bid to voice the unfairness of their plight. Trees swayed when they should have been still. Dead leaves crumpled under passive aggressive heels. The West Virginian sky was an unusual shade of yellow as the light was extinguished across the horizon. And as the flowers were melting into the landscape like poison dart frogs; the first breath of fall air hung in the canopy like the stench of bad fish.  
“Will we get another car?”

AJ sighed and the slump of his shoulders was even more noticeable now than it was in the dorms. The pair were well ahead of her and Louis, but their voices carried behind them with the movement of the breeze. Even if they weren’t directing their voices towards them, it sure felt like they were.

“Probably not. We got lucky before.”

“So we’re walking.”

It was quiet for a few more seconds beyond the sound of their combined footsteps. Almost like the silence was evidence enough of Clementine and AJ’s suffering. _This was it right? Surely this was the shit that would break the camel’s back._

“My shoes are gonna break.”

“Well we’ll just have to hope they hold out,” Clementine assured, but she definitely didn’t sound so sure. “My feet are gonna bleed again,” AJ simply countered.

“Well we’ll tear up a shirt and tie them up if we have to.”

_It was that easy, huh?_

This kind of thing didn’t even phase the amber eyed teen anymore, apparently. _How could it?_ Clementine avoided talking about survival outside the walls for obvious reasons. The stuff she’d been through must have been deplorable even for apocalypse standards. Still- Violet figured the girl would have had a stronger reaction to being kicked to the curb than this crap. _How could she be so blasè? This wasn’t just some stupid stroll to the fish shack. This was her life!_

Why wasn’t she angry? Why wasn’t she fighting tooth and nail to stay at Ericson when the world outside was so bad?

“It’s not so bad.”

_Holy. Fuck. Seriously_. _What the fuck did this stupid asshole have to say now?_

“I mean you’ve done this before.”

Violet couldn’t help but facepalm at his idiocy. Truly, it was just idiocy at this point. No sane person could just kick somebody out and then justify their actions by claiming, _‘oh- you’ve been burned before. So it’s all good.’_

“Probably pretty good at it by now…” He trailed off, looking like he wanted to stop but for some reason didn’t know how. “Almost like going home for you guys.”

  
“You’ve lived inside walls your whole life!” Clementine snapped before Violet could slap him. Instead of turning to glare at him; she readjusted her hat and squared her shoulders. When even that wasn’t enough she clenched a fist around AJ’s slacking hand and picked up the pace. _Sorry to break the news to you Clem. But even you can’t outrun his ignorance for long._ “You have no fucking idea what it’s like out there,” She spoke like it was an insult. Like she was proud of the fact that she could use her years of suffering as brownie points in this instance.

Violet’s feet instinctively came to a stop at the safe zone’s end. Her muscles tensed for the dreaded march she’d have to make right back to the dorms. Directly into her bedroom. Right up to her bed and face first into her pillows. Because then... maybe.... she’d have a chance at coping with the guilt she was going to feel for the rest of her life.

“We’re here,” Her voice cracked. “The road’s that way. Have anything to say before we go?”

Louis gave her a stern look. “I’ve said plenty.”

The two kids ahead of them stopped to turn for only a moment. Though, Clementine really didn’t seem grateful to be stopping. She seemed about ready to walk on and on until she reached the edge of the earth. Not in an eager kind of way either.

“Thanks for trying to keep us,” AJ’s soft voice interrupted her analysis. He kept his eyes planted on his worn sneakers though. _He was probably trying his best to keep his cool._

“I wish you could stay. I didn’t want this...”

Clem scoffed. A scoff that escaped her nostrils just as quickly as it left it. She scrunched up the scar on her brow and turned her head towards the forest in front of her.

_Seriously?!  
  
  
_

“Really, I wish I could take you back Clem but I...” Violet rose to her own defense. When Clementine merely turned completely away; Violet kept going. “Half of them are convinced you’re as bad as Marlon, or worse. And if you came back, someone else might get hurt or worse and I...”

 _What was this even accomplishing?_ She’d tried to keep them in the group and it backfired at every step. _What more did Clementine want from her?_

_  
Shit. It really wasn’t worth it anymore._

  
Clementine obviously wasn’t fighting it. AJ seemed to have accepted it well enough. _Why was she still fighting this for them?_ Clementine obviously didn’t appreciate any of her efforts. The only thing Violet was doing was fighting for the hell of it. And why would she fight a losing battle? She didn’t know these people! 

If Clementine was gonna shut her out then Violet would gonna shut her out too. It didn’t matter that Clementine was the only one she’d opened up to about _anything_ in the past year. It didn’t matter that Violet knew this was just Clementine’s defense mechanism kicking it into high gear. None of it mattered. _Fuck her_ _. Fuck her and all her bullshit.  
  
_

This was why she never bothered with people anymore. _It was better to not get involved then to wind up getting hurt again._

She didn’t bother to wait for Louis after that slap in the face. She just turned and stalked back into the woods and away from this shitty day. If she could run fast enough away from this disaster, than maybe it wouldn’t catch back up to her. Or at least that was the theory. It didn’t take long for Louis to slink his way back into step besides her. Her fleeting cowardice would just have to wait for another day.

“I know you’re upset Vi, but it’s for the best.”

His brows softened like he actually meant it. _Which was bullshit_. He just needed to convince himself that it was for the best.

”Shut up. Seriously,” Violet sneered. “You say one more thing and I swear...”

”It’s over with.” He sighed deeply. _What about ‘shut up’ did he not comprehend?  
_  
”Lets just move on? Ok? Put all this shit behind us?” 

She scoffed and shoved past him when he tried to reach out to her. He didn’t get to dictate what they did now when all of this was his fault.   
  


Violet could give herself some credit. _An ounce of credit, at the very least._

_She wasn’t delusional._

A gun shot rifled the once still air with a scary velocity. The birds hidden amongst the canopy fled for the heavens, and the sun seemed to pause in its horizontal trajectory to gasp at the sound.

“Holy shit!” Louis hissed and he raised one hand to cover the ear not protected by dreads. “Jesus fuck... that has to be Clem and AJ!”

  
She agreed with him. For the first time that day she honestly and whole heartedly agreed with him. 

_If Clem or AJ got hurt because of her..._ she didn’t even want to think about how many nights she’d have to spend trying to recover.

 _Jesus Christ._ She took it all back. Every fucked up thing she said about not giving a shit. _It was all a lie.  
_  
They were almost halfway back to the school when she turned on her heel and sprinted back along the path towards where they came. It was probably faster than any other time she’d run before. _Scratch that. It was definitely faster._

She wasn’t going to let them die on her watch. Even if Clementine hated her. 

  
The pair hurried over the worn path as carefully as their pace allowed. In hindsight- they should’ve been quieter. They had no idea what they were walking back into. Violet clenched Marlon’s bow tighter at the thought. _Clementine and AJ could already be dead, and they wouldn’t know until they stumbled upon their rotting corpses._

  
“It’s not my school! I don’t live there!”

“Oh shit!” Louis hissed just as Violet clapped her palm against his lips. Violet froze in an effort to crouch lower to the forest floor, bringing Louis down with her. It was a good thing they’d practiced doing this kind of thing before. _Hiding from the adults at Ericson just held a new meaning._ They slunk behind a pair of Virginian pines to get a better grasp of the situation. 

  
Seeing adults again after such a long time was jarring. There was a reason adults weren’t allowed at Ericson. _They were nothing but trouble_ , to quote Marlon.

The man held the same familiar brusque as the one Clementine had fought at the train station. It wasn’t that difficult to tell who he was, however, once she realized he had a stump where his arm once was. The woman was unfamiliar to her. That didn’t seem to matter to Clementine though. The girl took the woman’s offer to stand cautiously. Even with AJ caught in the sight lines of the man’s shotgun.

“Lee isn’t with you….” The woman said and the tone she used held a different edge. “So he’s dead then.”

_Sympathy? Is the woman holding Clem at gunpoint really offering her sympathy?_

Clementine visibly flinched, but she didn’t say anything in response. At least not loud enough for Violet to hear.

“I’ll never forget him leaving me on the side of the road to die.” The woman’s face constricted at the memory. “But I don’t blame him. I was clearly a threat to the group after I shot that girl.” 

“Carley.”

_When did this become a history lesson on the tragedy of Clementine?_ It took no less than a minute to uncover all this information on the girl. _From a complete stranger nonetheless!_ This was not the time nor the place for this kind of thing right now.

“Lee should’ve left you behind too,” the woman sneered in response. She gave Clementine this disgusting smirk that made Violet shiver for her. “Might’ve lived longer if he did.”

Louis and Violet shared a wince. _Yeah, no wonder Clementine didn’t want to return to this world. Or even talk about it._ The girl’s detachment made more and more sense the longer Violet thought about it. _How could the Ericson kids ever think Clementine and AJ were the worse this world had to offer?_ Clearly, there were scarier monsters hiding beneath their beds.   
“Fuck, we don’t have time for this,” the man interrupted the scene in front of him. But his partner in crime responded with a look akin to the infamous Clementine glare. “We’ve got history.”

“Great, you know her. I know her. Point is, got a job to do.”

“Violet!” Louis hissed. He shoved his elbow into her rib cage and pulled her out of her reverie. “We gotta do something!” 

She shook the curiosity out of her mind fiercely. _For now_. She’d return to it once they got Clem and AJ out safe. 

Violet instinctively knocked an arrow in between her fingers. They couldn’t risk attacking them now or AJ and Clem would get caught in the crossfire. But they didn’t have many other options. If they didn’t do something now then they’d risk the raiders dragging the two away like they did with Minnie and Sophie. Or force them to march straight to the Ericson gates. Violet wasn’t repeating Marlon’s mistakes. “Get AJ. I’ll cover Clementine.” 

“What? Help you kidnap a couple more kids?” Clementine sneered. Her words were full of malice now. If there had been good blood between the two, it seemed to have dissipated then.   
  
“We don’t need a couple. We need all of you.” 

Louis winced again. But not on Clementine’s behalf this time. He gave Violet an uneasy look the closer they sauntered to the two trees behind the two raiders. “Holy fuck. We really doing this?”

It was like they were kids again. Sneaking out of the dorms and up to the bell tower held different thrills for the two of them. For Violet, she was just trying to find some peace and quiet. Louis just liked the bragging rights. It was also the only time she could feasibly tolerate him back then. When he was keeping his mouth shut- he was alright in her book. _On most days, that was still the case._

Louis had to know the look that Violet sent his way. It was the same one she’d sent him all those years ago.

_Of course they were doing this. There wasn’t any doubt._

“Be smart about this Clementine. It’s an us or them kinda world,” the woman preached like it was some kind of well rehearsed scripture. “If you want to save your little one, you won’t pick them.”

Violet pulled her arrow taut against Marlon’s bow. She raised the sights to the woman’s shoulder blade, just as she began to peek her head out from her cover. But what she found instead of a raider, was the brunette girl’s eyes. They pleaded for her to turn back. _Turn back and keep running until this world disappears.  
_But when that wasn’t enough to dissuade Violet, Clementine’s hands came to cup around her lips like a speaker. “Run!”

The raiders turned their heads to Violet and Louis like deer caught in headlights. With their cover blown— _Clementine really gave them no other option._ So Violet tripped over her own two feet when she started her sprint back to Ericson. But she was sprinting anyway. That didn’t stop the first raider from tossing AJ aside like a rag doll and bearing down on her instead. “You sons of bitches!”   
  


“Come on!” Louis shouted over his shoulder. The boy was already three feet ahead of her. He must have started running even before Clementine said something. A shotgun shell broke up the trunk besides her shoulder in an explosion of shrapnel. “Shit!” She cried when the spray of lead and tree bark collided with her left arm. She ducked around tree after tree until she was sure the rampaging lunatic was too far behind her to take aim again. Her chest rose with painful breaths that nipped at her lungs and sucked up the moisture from her tongue. But she didn’t stop running. Not when she counted the 4th gunshot ringing off behind her. Not even when she felt her feet connect with Ericson’s main path. She only stopped when she saw Louis slide to a stop in front of the gates and wave to Aasim in the watchtower above. “Get everyone out here! We got a problem!”   
  


_God, was that an understatement_. They’d just left Clementine and AJ to the wolves!  
  


* * *

_Clem?_

_Yeah?_

_Will we ever find a home?_

_We’ll see._


	2. It starts here.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We pick up right where we left off! Clementine and AJ are gone, the Raiders are snooping about, and the Ericson kids are trying to pick up the pieces of what’s left. What’s Violet to do now that things have finally gone to hell?

_I like your hair._

_Thanks Lily... It’s weird._

_Well why don’t you take these then? I only wore my hair up when my dad was... I don’t need them anymore._

_Your hair thingys?_

_My hair ties. It’ll help your hair look... less weird._

_You think so?_

_I know so._

* * *

The woods weren’t noisy anymore. No, there was this uneasy stillness that settled across the branches and brambles outside Ericson. If Violet closed her eyes, she could almost smell the apathy. This wasn’t the forest of four hours ago- desperate to reflect the suffering the kid’s felt. No, these trees were sicker with each gunshot, and now they were either dead or too indifferent to move.

 _  
  
Surely this was all she could take for one night?_ It didn’t get much worse than narrowly escaping death at the hands of kidnapping assholes.

Listening to Ruby nag though?   
  
  


_That was a close second._

  
  
“Your arm looks like someone went and chewed it up! What the hell were you thinking?”

  
Louis had taken up residence on top of the center most picnic table. The other boys were pestering him with an endless amount of questions about what happened, and he brushed them off with a simple- “Hey! Remember those Raiders we were worrying about? Yeah they probably just killed Clem and AJ.”

So instead of helping de-escalate the situation, Violet was relegated to the steps because of a _fucking scrape_? _Pathetic_.  
  


She’d insisted on keeping some sort eye on the front gates, even if Willy could probably handle lookout duty. Ruby reiterated that she needed to at least bandage her forearm before she went and did something stupid. So they found a happy compromise.

“Do you know how reckless that was? Are you and Louis completely insane?!”

_  
Yes. A happy compromise._

  
  
Violet rolled her eyes at Ruby’s accusations, and the red head tightened the gauze around Violet’s arm. Of course, that made Violet pull away in protest. Ruby simply gave her a stern scoff in response. “Stop moving!”  
“That was your fault” Violet retorted.

  
  
Her body was like candle wax, melting into the splintered concrete and dripping as far away from Ruby as humanely possible.  
“If you’d hold still for five seconds then I could get out of your hair,” Ruby hissed. “But no. You insist on being difficult.”

 _  
  
You know what’s fucking difficult?_ _Being tended to like a goddamn child while those Raiders hunt AJ and Clem down._ Or better yet- those raiding ass-hats could have turned and followed Vi home. Surely she could worry about a _stupid fucking infection_ later, if it meant protecting the school now.

The sound of tearing duct tape sounded besides her, christening the final stretch of Violet’s torture. Ruby’s whole body was focused on taping down the loose ends of her work. If it hadn’t been for the sigh escaping her nose, Violet would have figured Ruby was more inconvenienced then anything else. “What the hell are we gonna do Vi?”

_That was a great question_.

The boys could freak out as much as they wanted, but it wouldn’t change anything. The next few days were going to be shit. Things with Marlon hadn’t been easy, but at least Marlon had been hiding the severity of their situation. She could give him that much credit. The shittiness of their lives was manageable when it wasn’t actively being thrown in their faces. Violet’s goal was to survive. It’d been her primary concern for a long time. That wouldn’t change just because a couple of assholes decided to make things complicated. 

  
“You and Violet just fucked us!”

“Shut up dude! You want the whole world to hear you?” Aasim’s shouts interjected, and Mitch closed the distance between them in half. “Who cares?! We’re gonna fucking die as soon as those Raiders show up.”

He was fuming mere inches from Aasim’s face. It was a miracle the shorter kid could even stand being so close to his spluttering.  
Besides them, Louis was raising his hands defensively. “It’s not like we did it on purpose! We were still in the safe zone when we heard the gunshots. We barely got to Clem and AJ before—“

  
“Why the hell would you go back for them?”

  
“Mitch!” Ruby snapped. Aasim audibly winced, and nearly all of the boys turned to watch Ruby stand up and cross her arms across her chest. Then she frowned, and shook her head somberly. “We’re no better than Marlon if we think like that,” Ruby said it, even if she didn’t necessarily believe it. It was a careful warning though. One Violet actually agreed with.

  
Mitch had to be sweating up a storm under that jacket. He was usually drenched when he got mad. It was the gasoline that fueled his fire. “Fuck you Ruby! You know I’m right. You wouldn’t have voted them out otherwise.”

  
“This is pointless,” Violet started, and she struggled to pull her sleeve over her new bandage. “Those Raiders were coming for us. Clem and AJ just got caught in the middle.”

  
“How do you know that? Maybe they were the ones who led them here to begin with? Did you ever think of that?”

  
“The Raiders said so themselves!” Violet debunked. “Plus, Clem was the one who told us to run. Why would she do that if she was working for them?”

  
Louis frowned. He didn’t look so assured.

“Their leader knew Clem somehow. Or she pretended to know her. I don’t know...”  
Louis was quiet after that. Even when all three boys turned on him with a vengeance.

  
“You’re fucking serious?”

“Great! And you’re just telling us this now?” Aasim was pacing again. _Great_. 

  
  
“They weren’t exactly best friends!”

“That doesn’t mean shit-“ Mitch said. “This could’ve been her plan the whole time!”

Louis pointed a diligent finger to the road in response. “You heard the gunshots. They weren’t  just shooting at us. People don’t shoot at other people for nothing!”

_ Why does he sound like he’s making a PSA?  _

The gravity of his words was not lost on her. It was just hearing them come out of his mouth that made it comical. They didn’t know Jack shit about Clementine’s past. Louis had no right to tell anyone about the woman in the woods until they heard the full story. If that was even possible without... 

“Clementine?”

Willy’s voice was like a firecracker. Torch light illuminated the watchtower in a blood-orange hue. The boy’s bow drew taut against his fingertips, and with a twang, he released an arrow. But his immediate assumption had been correct. Clementine wasn’t some sort of illusion he’d manifested out of thin air. She was real and  alive and _here_. 

Louis pushed off the table in a hurry. The other three boys were too shocked to even convince themselves to move. Anyone with eyes was mesmerized by her presence.  _If speaking of the devil brought him to your door- then what did cursing him get you?_

The girl struggled against rays of moonlight. She was silhouetted in front of the gates precariously, holding AJ’s sagging body like a corpse. Holding him with as much dignity as she could muster, no doubt. 

“Stop!” Willy suddenly shouted. His bow loosed another arrow that flittered away into the dark nothingness.  One step. Two steps. Then nothing.  Only the stirring of leaves gave away this persons position. They hadn’t even flinched at Willy’s dissuasion. It was as if the silent acknowledgment of their presence was enough of a reason for them to leave. 

Clementine fell to her knees with an injured sob when Louis finally approached the gate. Like she’d been aching to do it for hours. 

“Help me. Please!” 

She sounded... distraught. Now  that was _disconcerting_. 

It didn’t help that she was covered in mud and clearly still in shock. Her eyes didn’t know which kid to focus on. 

  
Incredulously, it was Ruby who called them to action. The girl that was itching to get rid of them just a few hours ago was all but kicking the admin doors down for Clem and AJ now. “Bring em inside! I’ve got what I need upstairs!” 

“And let them use our medicine too? Fuck that!”

It was only a moment more before Mitch was standing at the gate’s entrance. Then he reached out and locked the gate tighter once Clementine’s pleading eyes moved towards him. “We don’t owe them shit.” 

Louis wrapped his hand around one of the metal bars defiantly, instead of listening to the raving asshole. One good thing about having a best friend with no brain was he never knew when to quit. Today she was thankful he decided to stay true to form. 

“Are you serious? The kid’s clearly hurt!” 

“Did you not just hear Willy? The Raiders are out there! She led them right to us!” Mitch snapped. He leaned his back against the gate before crossing his arms. That way, no one could push him out of the way.  _What was this? King of the hill?_

Clementine sighed. It wasn’t exceptionally loud or anything. Rather, it was just uncanny enough to resemble the whisper of the wood around her. “The guy that helped me isn’t a Raider. I’m not a Raider! Please. Just help us.”

Louis shifted his concerned glare back to AJ’s shivering. Clementine and Lou shared a look. It was hard to read at first, but it seemed to be enough for Louis. At least enough for the guy to swallow his pride and turn to the other kids around him. “This is ridiculous. We’re not gonna sit here and let AJ bleed to death. That’s not who we are,” He announced.

“Damn right we aren’t!” Ruby’s bark followed next. She motioned for Aasim and Omar to follow her inside once more. Then she threw her head over her shoulder with a simple sneer. “Let the boy in or I’m gonna go out there myself. I’m not messing around!” 

Violet nodded hesitantly. There was definitely someone out there, but she wasn’t convinced it was a Raider. If their cover really was blown, wouldn’t they have just stormed the place already? Plus- why would they shoot AJ? _A_ _ kid?_

She moved to stand stood toe to toe with Mitch; her glare firm and her arms crossed. It was three against one at this point and they were just wasting time arguing about it. If Mitch wanted to bitch about it some more, then he could do it from the sidelines. But not here. 

The glare she was giving him must have been enough for him to step aside, for he shoved past her slow enough to exhale a snide comment under his breath. “Suicidal dicks. All of you.” 

But he left, finally. Willy moved to follow him, but Violet’s shifting glare stuck him in his place. He could scurry after Mitch when he wasn’t on watch.  _However much warning it actually gave them_.   
Mitch’s departure gave Louis and Violet ample opportunity to throw the gate open and pause at Clementine’s side. 

“Take him. Please...” 

“Right.” 

Then Louis maneuvered the boy up into his arms and carted him off towards the admin building without a second thought. 

“It’s ok little guy. I’ve got you.” 

Louis brushed past Violet’s shoulder and paused softly at the gate’s entrance. His dark eyes were cautious, but he threw his head back to Clementine nonetheless when she didn’t follow him automatically. “Come on. We need some answers.” 

  
  
“I’ve got it covered Lou. Just get him outta here.”   


The blonde girl side-stepped her friend to bend down to Clementine’s level. “Let’s go. We can talk in the office.”

  
  
The girl furrowed her eyebrows, but she obliged. She lifted the hand missing a ring finger up to Violet’s outstretched fingers. Then they connected, briefly, and Clementine helped herself to her feet.  
  
  


“What happened out there?” Violet felt herself saying. Clementine didn’t seem phased by the question. She simply shrugged and started for the dorms ahead of them.

  
  
“It’s a long story.” 

_Isn’t everything?_

* * *

They entered the office at a glacial pace, despite Violet’s prodding. It was clear Clementine was emotionally unprepared for everything the Ericson kids threw her way. If anything- she looked like she wanted to lay down and sleep for an eternity. 

_What else can you do in a situation like this? Cry? Like that would solve anything._

All she had to do was answer Violet’s questions. 

“Clementine please. We need to talk.”

_Was Clementine ignoring her? Probably._

But she had ample reason to. AJ had reached out and was now clutching to her arm like a little kid. Well, a  _normal_ little kid. Even Ruby’s consolations were ineffective. It was only when Clem gave in and kneeled beside him- did AJ let go of her arm. 

“What do we when we’re scared?” 

She asked him that like it was some part of a ritual. 

“When fear starts to get the upper hand?” 

“We push through it.” His words were fervent, and Clem nodded just as rigorously. “I’m good now.” She gave his arm a light squeeze. Then she turned to where Violet was standing by the mahogany doorframe. 

“Let’s just get this over with.” Clementine sighed again. Violet could have felt that sigh in her lungs. It echoed across the room and slammed into her diaphragm like a truck. How this girl could sound so callous was beyond her. And Violet was the first one to understand callousness. She’d been callous her whole life. 

A wordless Clementine stepped into the dark and empty office alone. Violet barely had the door shut before Clementine moved to stand in front of the balcony window, rather than bathe in the suffocating blackness. Her tanned throat bobbed like she was desperately loosing her grip on something. But she set her eyes on the horizon so Violet couldn’t guess what it was. “As soon as AJ’s ready, then we’ll leave. We’ve already overstayed our welcome.”

It was well past midnight now. The walls of old Ericson had just started to creak again. Vi couldn’t really remember a time when the dry wall didn’t shiver in the night sky. It was odd but... hearing the walls tonight just made her nerves waver. It was only a few hours past their near death experience, and still Violet had no response to what she’d seen in the woods. 

“You... back in the woods you told us to run. Why?” 

That got Clementine’s attention automatically. Vi’s pulse raced when those intense, golden irises met hers in shock. She’d never seen Clementine look so taken aback before. A silence filled the room like sludge, and a simple look from Clementine wasn’t enough to clear a path to understanding. 

_God her subconscious was a dick. She was gonna dive nose deep into this already? Why didn’t she start off with something small like ‘are you ok?’ She had to go straight for the jugular?_

Violet’s ears reddened maddeningly. “I just... Thank you for protecting us. It was really brave.” 

It was true. Clementine could have gave them up and she didn’t. She could have marched the Raiders straight to the gate and turned the other way once they started dragging people away. _But she didn’t._ Even after they’d just finished kicking her and AJ out for good.

Clementine’s eyre never faltered, however. Rather, it intensified to the point where it burned. A blush settled across Violet’s nose, and she could have sworn she heard the brunette girl chuckle softly in response. 

“I’m just glad we all got out of there alive.”

“Me too,” Violet nodded unconsciously. She tucked herself behind Marlon’s desk and damn near melted into the office chair. “I’m really glad you’re here.” 

“Really? Ever since we’ve arrived, this place has been a shitshow. To put it mildly. 

“It’s always been a shitshow. Now that you’re back- things will start to get better.”

Clementine was caught off guard by the softness of her voice. Even her face flushed bright enough for Violet to discover it. 

“Oh. Uh...”

“Shit! That’s... I meant it like I...” 

Her usual rasp was replaced with a high pitched squeak.  She just said the craziest shit sometimes . Even if it was kind of true. She never wanted them to leave in the first place! Clementine and AJ, not just Cle... 

_They were useful. _ They knew the outside world better than anyone else at Ericson. Plus, Clementine was one hell of a force when she wanted to be. She proved herself that much when she confronted Marlon. If they wanted to survive the shitshow, then they had to be smart. Clementine could show them how. If she could be convinced to stay. 

_ See, brain? That’s what you should have said.  _

“I have to ask,” Violet began instead, this time with more warmth in her cheeks. “Who was that guy out there? I didn’t get a good look at him before he disappeared...” 

“James. He brought AJ and I back to his camp when Walkers swarmed us. We patched AJ up as much as we could, and then he guided us back here once the herd passed.” 

“You know I have to play devils advocate right?” Violet said uneasily. She tucked her hands into her pockets and stared at the brunette girl now leaning against the wall. 

“Why did you bring him here? I mean you led him right to us.”

It was a hypocritical thing of her to say.  _Didn’t she just admit to doing the same thing for the Raiders?_

Clementine seemed to sense her hypocrisy too. A snort passed from her nostrils in outrage. Her flushed faced cooled into its usual soft bronze. Plus, her voice was calm as well.  _In an unsettling manner._

“Look. He’s not with the Raiders. It doesn’t matter whose side he’s on! AJ and I would be dead if he hadn’t saved us.” The ball capped teen brought her hand to the bridge of her nose to feign some sort of annoyance. Which was strange, given the steadiness of her tone. 

“He wears these... walker skins. It’s how he was able to escape the herd. And besides, I wouldn’t have brought him here if I thought he was a threat. You’ve got to believe me.”

“Wow...” 

_Yes._ She’d process the absurdity of that statement later. “It’s not that I don’t trust you Clem. It’s just...” 

“ _Just what_?”

“I just want to know the truth. I mean I know you guys took off once they started shooting at us but, that woman who attacked you. You knew her.” 

Clementine’s stoicism melted into bitter steel. She albeit threw every emotion she knew out the window, besides contempt. 

“Lily.”

“Who the hell is she? I mean I know you’re not like, with her group. But the others don’t like the coincidence. Her showing up right after you? I mean-“ 

“Lily and I were friends. A long time ago.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Violet insinuated, “How long has it been?” 

Clementine’s expression was grim. 

“Back when the walkers first showed up, I was with this group. We held up in an abandoned motor inn for a time. Lily tried to keep us all together.”

Clem’s eyes took on that far-away look again, from the game of cards. Her look was so wistful that Violet was sure that she could call the other girl’s name and she wouldn’t answer back. Clementine’s brain was beyond the walls of Ericson as well. She was haunted by more than just four walls around her. 

“She murdered someone in our group.  _Carley._ She’d refused to let Lily push her around. And Lily just... gunned her down.” Clementine lowered her eyes to the ground with a sour inhale. The words sat in her chest for a minute more, before she dropped them at her feet. “It was right at the start. I haven’t seen her since.” 

It was believable, mostly because Clementine was never this emotional.  About _anything._

“I believe you Clem. I’m just worried about the others and what they think. They didn’t even get a chance to mourn Marlon and Brody before the child snatching assholes showed up.” Violet winced at that thought. _It had only been_ _ hours _ _since they’d died_.

“Then you two came back after we thought you were dead and well... you can imagine how conflicted they must feel about you and AJ.” 

“Violet, AJ is the least of their worries.” 

Violet was walking a dangerous line here. One wrong move and Clementine would shut her out entirely. But she had to get this off her chest. Not just for herself, but for the other kids at Ericson too.

“I know. Everything is such a mess. They’re scared and they’re angry and they’re looking for someone to blame....” 

Before Clementine could interject, Violet crossed her arms against her chest and swiveled to face the settling moon.

“I mean they kicked you out! How am I supposed to change their minds about you?”

_Was that really her responsibility_ _?_ Violet wasn’t quite sure. Though, she wouldn’t throw Clementine to the wolves again.  _No one deserved that._

The other girl clenched her teeth. “Oh my god, forget the stupid vote! It’s not important anymore!” She damn near shouted. Then her grimace soured even further. “James told me what Lily and Abel will do next. He said they’ll get more people and guns, and they’ll finish what they started. We’re not gonna be safe here for much long.” 

Violet’s suspicious look was enough for Clem to keep going. “He’s watched them for a while. They’re at war with another community. They take people to fight for them.”

“So what- they turn them into soldiers?” 

Kidnapping people. Forcing them to fight. Killing them if they didn’t. 

_What the fuck?_

_Was the world always this cruel?_ What kind of sick and twisted person did you have to be to kidnap a bunch of  kids? 

  
Knowing that, _how sick did you have to be to sell your own friends out_? 

Violet’s face paled when she thought about it further. It made her want to puke. 

Minnie didn’t even like killing walkers! How could they turn her into something so.... _wrong?_

  
“It’ll happen to us too, unless we stop them,” Clementine said.

There was a silence between them. It was probably the first silence of its kind since they’d entered the office. It didn’t help much to relieve the tension. Quite the opposite in fact. Violet felt suffocated by it. 

She’d let Minnie get kidnapped. Violet knew it was her turn to go hunting and she just... refused?  _Why? What in Gods green earth compelled her to stay at Ericson when she should have gone? _

She’d give everything to go back in time and do it all over again. She might’ve been able to stop all of this before it even began.

“Look... This place is a fortress. It’ll take some time but I think we could make this place really hard to attack.” 

Violet raised her grieving eyes to the determined golden ones across from her. 

“Do you actually know how to do that?” She said, trying not to reveal the tears sitting at theback of her throat.

“Yeah, I was part of a siege once, in a town called Richmond.” 

Clementine approached the table carefully. She was hesitant to touch anything on the desk until Violet gave her the go ahead. Even then, Clementine was careful not to touch anything else but Marlon’s ‘safe zone’ map. It unraveled haphazardly, like no one had opened it for months.  
Clem’s hand fit naturally into place below her thinly drawn lips. Then her thumb pressed into the corner of her mouth, whilst her fingers rubbed small circles into her jaw line. “We should start with the walls. It needs some repairs.”

She went on like that for a while. If she’d had time to think on it- Violet would say that Clementine made this plan look easy. It looked less like a plan for war and more like a plan to do some renovations. 

It was hard to keep up with Clementine though. Every minute of silence was followed by more than a handful of proposals. Strangely- the other girl seemed _confident_ that everything would work out, regardless of the odds. For a person who was adamant about the severity of Jame’s threats- she was awfully composed about how they should go about their strategy. _Fill in the walls. Set up extra patrols. Ration the food stores._ Violet was joking before, but Clementine might actually take them to battle.   
  


Clem’s hand hiccuped to a stop just over the outlined greenhouse. As if in concentration, her fingers flitted across her chin over and over. Only when her jaw line was warm and red did she resist from rubbing the skin right off.

“Is something wrong?” 

Violet asked the question as she shifted in her office chair. It was still awkward to approach Clementine with any sort of concern. She hadn’t exactly been approachable.

_Then again, neither was Violet_. 

  
Clementine paused in her scanning of the map to tilt her head curiously in response. She brought both hands down against the table when she realized just what she’d been caught doing. “No. Sorry,” Clementine said, “It’s a bad habit.”

“Does it help you think?”

“Sometimes.” Clem’s nose scrunched at the words. “It’s just something I picked up from an old friend. A long time ago.”

_ Way to make things more awkward, Violet.  _

“Oh,” Violet nodded gruffly. She didn’t push anymore than that. Even if she was just a little bit suspicious. “What are you thinking then?”  
  


Clementine seemed to appreciate the change of topic. “This part isn’t labeled. What is it?”

“The old greenhouse-“ Violet said. She leaned over the desk the rest of the way to watch Clementine’s eyes devour the map of Ericson quickly. “We had a bad run in with walkers a couple years ago and Marlon decided to block the whole place off.  Safe zone, you know.” 

Clementine gave her a look that said otherwise. _A safe zone probably wasn’t very safe if kids were getting shot inside it._

“We need anything that we can get our hands on. Barbed wire, tools, building materials.... I can go tomorrow and check it out.” 

“Are you sure? That place is going to be swarming with walkers by now...”

“Of course I’m sure. I wouldn’t have suggested it otherwise,” Clementine insisted.

Violet raised an eyebrow at that, and leaned back into the chair. “I just didn’t want you to think that I was forcing you to go. You guys just got back and...”  _And? Where was she going with this?_

“You aren’t forcing me to do anything. Someone has to do it. Besides, I have to pay you guys back for AJ’s medicine.” 

“Well... you don’t owe us anything. We never would have known about the Raiders without you. Hell- we’d probably  be Raiders ourselves if you weren’t here.”

_That was for damn sure_. 

“You give me too much credit. All I did was crash my car.” Clementine shrugged like it was normal to wreck  your car in the middle of an apocalypse. She’s gotta be the unluckiest person ever. 

“Well. You crashed your car at the right time, is all I’m saying.” 

Violet did not just say that. 

She did not just say something mildly  _ flirty _ to the girl who showed up three days ago with her kid and a concussion. 

Clementine didn’t verbally react to her comment. She did turn away from anything that remotely resembled Violet so that had to be significant. But the glint in her eyes was softer. Violet couldn’t tell what it was, but something was there, hidden behind her composure.  _ Was she... smirking?  _ Clem rolled the map back into its tight cylinder and loosely fit the rubber band around its center.

“I’m gonna check in on AJ and Ruby before I head off to bed. You need anything else from me?” 

The clearing of Violet’s throat was substantially louder than she expected. “N-No! Go get some sleep. We’ll pick this back up after breakfast.” 

Clementine didn’t say anything else. At least until she did. A smile shined through and settled on Clementines’s lips. Then she began her slow departure towards the hallway. Not before she jiggled the door handle in her palm first.

“It’s really good to see you again.” 

Before Vi knew it, Clementine was gone. And Violet couldn’t dive head first into her hands fast enough.

_Holy shit._

* * *

  
_What are you drawing Clem?  
_

_My treehouse._

_ And whose that?  _

_ That’s you and your dad. _

Oh.  
  


_ You don’t like it?  _

_No! It’s just... we look so happy_. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bet you thought you’d seen the last of me? 
> 
> I have arisen from my post-essay slumber to deliver this chapter. It was rough trying to edit this and finish studying for my finals, but I think it turned out well enough (and at this point I’m just gonna pretend like everything is perfect and move onto the next one). 
> 
> Hope everything is going well for you guys (and that you’re staying safe and happy). I’m trying not to be crushed by the overwhelming suffering that is this year, but beyond that I’m doing fine. I’ve got another chapter in the works after this one- so be ready for more Violet POV madness.


End file.
